Anytime you have the opportunity to ring in the new year with one of your favorite bands, you know that you're in for a special occasion. After many successful New Year's runs with bands like Widespread Panic, Phish, and Umphrey's McGee, we decided that it was way past due for a New Year's celebration with Perpetual Groove, who was scheduled for a three-night run at Terminal West. This band has held a special place in our heart for well over a decade, and they have been absolutely on fire since reuniting in the spring of 2015. We were lucky enough to have the opportunity to sit down with Brock Butler (guitar/vocals) and Matt McDonald (keyboards) for a quick interview just before the band took the stage on New Year's Eve. Hope you all enjoy this one as much as we did.

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Lets start off by discussing this New Year's run in Atlanta. One of the things that really intrigued me about these shows is that you guys have a different theme each night. The fan submitted setlist, the LiveLoveDiealbum, and then three sets for New Year's Eve tonight. Tell me a little bit about how this all came together.

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Brock: When the submissions started coming in, there were a lot of really cool ideas. Someone requested that we do All This Everything complete. That seems kind of like our humor, as well, to play All This Everything and LiveLoveDie the following night. The same kind joke that one year for Halloween, our theme was "Diamonds Are Forever." Everyone assumed it was James Bond, so everyone came dressed in tuxedos, but we played all Neil Diamond songs. So, we're up there in all sequined shirts, black pants...

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Oh wow. What year was this?

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Brock: This was 2009 or 2010. I think it was 2010. So, everybody else thought it was a James Bond theme. We did do a bit of "Diamonds Are Forever," as well as "Lucy In The Sky With Diamonds," "Diamonds On The Soles Of Her Shoes," but the bulk of the new covers were Neil Diamond songs. We like to pull fast ones, so it was really funny to see everyone out there with martini glasses and everything. It wasn't mean spirited or anything...

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The ultimate curve ball for the fans...

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Brock: Sure. So that's kind of how we went about choosing to play All This Everything for the fan submitted playlist.

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What type of volume did you guys have in terms of the amount of feedback and submissions from the fans?

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Brock: I'm not exactly sure. Matt handled most of that and relayed it over to us through email. The response was strong, for sure. There were definitely multiple, multiple submissions.

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Matt: Our marketing director, Darrel Smith, handles all of our social media nowadays. He’s awesome. Darrel sent me all of the submissions and I then sent it out via email to the rest of the band members for us to discuss further. The very first submission was the album All This Everything complete. We loved the idea and knew it would be the ultimate curve ball. Two of our albums on the first two nights of the run seemed like a great idea and provides us with the opportunity to release these as *Live* albums like we did last year with Sweet Oblivious Antitode.

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So, this is the second New Year's run for you guys since the reunion. Two years in a row with a weekend run at Terminal West. You've done this in years past at Variety Playhouse. Do you feel that this tradition could continue in the future?

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Brock: Yeah, maybe. I think the size of this room is very appropriate for us. The amount of bands that are in Atlanta tonight is pretty impressive. You've got The Disco Biscuits and The Motet for starters. It's not like The Deftones are playing down the street. In terms of your audience, there are quite a few bands that are all drawing from the same pull. It's likely that someone who likes The Motet might also like Perpetual Groove. As far as Disco Biscuits fans, I've never been able to quite tell. If someone likes P Groove and likes the Biscuits, they usually like us both.

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There's an equal and opposite in people that are hardcore Biscuits fans. If I've ever seen things that I felt were inappropriately hostile, for some reason, they don't just say, "P Groove isn't really my cup of tea." The just hate us. Not exclusively just from the Biscuits, but I don't see it as much from Tribe fans for example. My buddy Ethan Schwartz posted something that said, "Biscuits > P Groove > Biscuits. What a great New Year's Run!" Then in the comments, someone writes, "Drop that fuckin' P Groove out of there, and it looks like a pretty good deal!" (laughs) I just don't get that.

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Matt: I love Terminal West. Everything about it. The room, the stage, the people, the staff. It’s a real Atlanta gem. I’ll play here for as long as they’ll have us! Brock loves the Facebook! I try not to read too many comments on anything. Learned that lesson the hard way back in ’07. (laughs)

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I really don't get that either. Like you said (Brock), all of these bands are pulling from a very similar audience. I'm sure there has been at least one festival where The Disco Biscuits, P Groove, and The Motet have all performed. I've never understood why so many people feel the need to "take sides" with bands amongst this music scene.

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Brock: I call it the "gang mentality." I don't understand it. For me, I just love music. I don't feel the need to categorize it. I certainly have my preference on things, but why would anyone do themselves that disservice? It's like going to a buffet, seeing all of these gorgeous choices of food, and saying, "No man. It's steak and only steak! I don't care how good that fucking shrimp cocktail looks. Steak for life!" You miss out on something that might have been very tasty.

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It seems strange to me. I understand if people have their one particular thing, and they're all about it. Sometimes people do feel that need to take sides. It's like with Panic and Phish. Can't you enjoy both of them? I've had wonderful experiences seeing both of those bands. I like to have an open mind. There's so much great music out there. Why rule out the potential that you might really like something else?

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Matt: Music, like all art is subjective. I think most that are spending their energy hating on something like art are just reflecting the hate emanating from inside their cubicle.

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I'm sure you are familiar with Phantasy Tour. As much as I love the concept of that site, it has somewhat of a notorious reputation for people expressing a lot of animosity towards other bands. It has always reminded me of people arguing on college football forums and getting caught up in the nonsense. It draws that same type of emotion of what people are most passionate about. No matter who the band is, if you're not getting their best effort on New Year's, something is wrong.

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Brock: I've read some of the harsh comments over the years, and I've developed thick enough skin that it really doesn't bother me. I really just get puzzled by it all. I can understand if we're not someone's particular "thing," but I don't understand it when it escalates to animosity and malicious gossip. So, long and short, variety is the spice of life, and Atlanta has a lot of options. To have a sold out show here tonight...it's like what I said during "Walking In Place" last night. With all of the great options in this city, it really means a lot that we were the audience's choice.

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Matt: Very true, you have to bring the heat on NYE. That’s what was so great about last year doing the destination shows. Every weekend we played got treated like a NYE run. Let’s face it, you should try to bring that energy to every single show no matter what the weekend is or city you may be in.

Watch Perpetual Groove's music video for "Paper Dolls" here:

That's got to be an amazing feeling. We're coming up on close to two years since you guys reunited for that unbelievable show at the Georgia Theatre. I've been to a lot of shows, and that one is up there with the best of them. The energy in that room was on another level. There were moments when the audience was singing louder than the band.

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Brock: Oh yeah. I could feel it. You don't really have that opportunity often. Coming off of a two-year hiatus...that's kind of a once in a lifetime thing. You can't expect to have that kind of intensity at every show.

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Matt: When Newt and I were mixing those first two nights back he bounced a version for me that is just the mics in the room. All you hear is the audience singing along. It’s awesome.

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You've now had a chance to return to so many major stages across the country. I know it's got to be an amazing feeling to pack out these venues and kind of pick up where you left off. Can you tell me a little bit about this experience since the reunion?

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Matt: A couple of times we've said that there was a feeling of finishing what we've started, but I think that even that has changed. Everything kind of happens for a reason, and we needed the break, not only as a band, but individually. So, I think it made each of us in our own personal lives...I feel pretty safe in saying that it made each of us more humble. As the collective, even more so that feeling of humility and thankfulness to have not only the opportunity to do it again, but I'm certain that none of us even had it on the radar for the majority of those two years. It wasn't really until Brock and I spoke in December of 2014 that it was kind of on the radar. I think it might have even been January before the actual question of "Do you think we should do some more shows?" came up. So, I guess humility and humbling is a good way to put it, as well as appreciation...

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Brock: Oh yeah...humility and gratitude. Which is always just two great things for any situation if you're trying to turn your life around. Personally, for me, these are things that if you're trying to tighten up and find amends and redemption and things like that, a lot of it starts with being humbled. From that humility comes gratitude and appreciation. Ultimately, at least from my part, that translated into joy. To be clear eyed enough and know just how fortunate we've all been. Having it absent from my life and now having it back in my life and realizing that my life is just so much better with it.

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As a long time fan of this band...I know I've told you guys this before, but your music brings out emotions that are just hard to describe. The music scene and the world in general is a better place with Perpetual Groove in it. It's no secret that there are a lot of people who feel the same way.

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Brock: See, you can say that, but if that was my answer...coming back to humility... (laughs)

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Matt: We've always been the band in this scene, whether it be Brock or Adam's lyrics, and just the music period has been just a heart on your sleeve kind of thing. There are a lot of jam bands that have really cool, quirky, maybe type two kind of thinking with lyrics, but there's something to be said about the honesty of Brock's lyrics that everyone can relate to. It might be, whatever it was to Brock when he wrote it, it will translate to anyone, and they can relate to it on their own level. I think that is part of what has set us apart specifically in this "jam scene." Not a lot of people write lyrics that actually maybe mean something to the heart as opposed to trying to make you think.

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Watch Perpetual Groove perform "Lost Connection" during an acoustic set on the Georgia Theatre rooftop here:

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I definitely agree with that. So, since you guys have been back, you have released the "Paper Dolls" single, as well as the four-song EP Familiar Stare. Since that point, how much new material has been in the works? Looking ahead to 2017, are there plans to get back into the studio?

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Brock: No firm plans, but I don't think there is any question that we will. I've kind of equated it to Weird Al Yankovich. With his last full release, he finally got a #1 album. He said that because of the pace of how everyone gets their information now, if something happens in the news that he might make a parody of, by the time it takes him to record a full album, a million people have already done gag versions of something. For him to keep up and be able to stay on top of whatever music he might be addressing (usually it involves current events and pop culture), he is moving towards releasing as much material as possible, but more frequently and in shorter spurts. This is just off the top of my head. We haven't really discussed it at length. I imagine we will do a full album at some point.

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Matt: I think that as we have performed last year, and what we have done this year with performing full albums from our past live, I think that there is a longevity to a full album that there is not with the singles or the EPs. Last year, the discussion was very much the new environment. Release, release, release...shorter...this, that, and the other. Now, I kind of feel like I'd rather have something where people are thinking about the entire album a few years from now, as opposed to the EP for a month. Like we've always done, maybe to a fault, we're gonna do it our way, and whatever we decide is going to be the best way for us. Which, quite often, has turned out not to be the model that many people use.

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Well, 2016 was a very busy year for you guys. This was definitely the most extensive touring that P Groove has done in years. What are you guys thinking in terms of how the schedule is going to shape out, the festival plays, all of that? What are your goals, and how to do you guys plan to balance everything out?

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Matt: I think what you see on the tour schedule right now is going to be a pattern. I think that the weekend warrior thing works out a little better for us. Going out for a couple of weeks at a time, there are things to be gained from that, but, you know, maybe we're just getting old. Like I said just a minute ago, we do things our own way. We kind of got some pressure about this time last year to do "tour tours." That was fun, but I don't think it was everything that it could be when we space ourselves out more. I think we like the destination weekend type stuff.

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Brock: Look at David Gilmour. He announces a North American tour, and it's five dates. Two nights in New York, two nights in L.A., and maybe one other one. Everyone's fine with him calling it a "Dave Gilmour Tour" though. I think there is going to be somewhere right in between something that doesn't keep us out into a two week grind of the road, but I'm hoping that we can find something that's just in the middle. If we do two nights in New York City, and then maybe have one or two more dates. Maybe just three to four dates at a time, so that we have a couple of weeks to come home. Matt and Adam have children now. My girlfriend and I have a new puppy, and I miss him like crazy.

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What kind of puppy did you guys get?

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Brock: He's half chihuahua and half yorkie. He's a chorkie. He weighs less than two pounds. We got him just a couple of weeks ago. I miss him, and I miss Summer when we're on the road. There are a lot of people that we miss being with. I believe that we can find the most perfect balance of things. I'm confident of that.

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Matt: Yeah...I think that's what we should do. Like what you were just saying with these 2017 dates. The weekend warrior thing seems a little more realistic for what we do. The longevity at this point is important, and we want to keep doing it. However, we don't want to burn ourselves out. We had about 10 years of burning ourselves out. There were some old vibes that came back on the last tour that made us think, "Ehh...I love you guys, but I don't want to be gone from my family, or around you" (laughs). I think it keeps us fresher, and we approach the music with more energy.

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Well, I think at this point, there is only one thing left to do, and that's to go out, rock that Terminal West stage one last time in 2016, and end this crazy year in style. Thanks so much for taking the time to sit and chat for a few minutes.